Collaborative Action

Coalition Building and Collaborative Action

Literacy Mid-South is focused on an ambitious vision of 100% literacy across the Mid-South. This cannot be achieved with one organization working on its own. Literacy Mid-South believes in the power of coalition building and collaborative action.

Power of Coalition

  • capacity building

  • networking

  • visibility resources

  • louder voice for advocacy

Collaborative action has organizations, working together, produce results that move communities closer to realizing an established goal.

Qualities of Collaborative Action Results

  • relationships + resources = results

  • determined by constructive, focused conversations

  • specific, observable, and measurable

  • appropriate for this group

  • focused on a purpose that is a step to a community results

Early Literacy Consortium

The Memphis Early Literacy Consortium (ELC) was established in July 2019 and includes over 30 participating organizations. Convened initially by Stand For Children, Shelby County Schools and the Urban Child Institute, the goals of the ELC have been to promote communication and collaboration regarding current early literacy efforts and to develop an early literacy strategy for Shelby County.

OST Network

The Literacy Mid-South Out-of-School Time (OST) Network is a collaborative initiative designed to enhance reading proficiency among elementary students in Shelby County, Tennessee. This network brings together a diverse group of community organizations providing high-quality literacy programming to elementary students through low-to-no-cost, after-school and summer programming. This involves developing/adopting and deploying reading interventions or support services in after-school and summer programs, complementing school-based reading interventions, and helping parents and the community adopt practices to improve student attendance and reading proficiency.

N-ABLE

The Network of Adult Basic Literacy and Education (N-ABLE) involves organizations in the Mid-South with the shared goal of supporting adults in their pursuit of lifelong learning and literacy. N-ABLE seeks partnerships that provide supportive educational, social-emotional, vocational, and counseling services to create a sustainable pipeline to expand literacy resources and services for adults.